This book presents a way into the Dickensian world that starts from linguistic patterns. Corpus linguistic methodology is employed to study electronic versions of texts by Charles Dickens. The analysis begins with clusters, i.e. repeated sequences of words, as pointers to local textual functions. Quantitative findings are completed with qualitative analyses and linguistic patterns of various degrees of flexibility are identified. The study also incorporates comparable data from other nineteenth-century writers. With its corpus stylistics focus, the book presents an innovative approach to the language of one of the most popular English authors. It takes a fresh view on aspects such as characterisation, speech and body language. The approach combines corpus linguistics with literary stylistics and also takes into account literary criticism. It thus contributes to bridging the gap between linguistic and literary studies. It will be a useful resource for both researchers and students of language and literature.